


Silver star

by DarkValkyrie



Category: Irish Mythology, Original Work
Genre: Mythical Beings & Creatures, Slice of Life, Wolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21899596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkValkyrie/pseuds/DarkValkyrie
Summary: I got inspiration for this story from feeling alone for the past couple of days and combined it with Irish mythology.I didn't use any movies, books or series for inspiration, just the mythological creatures from Irish folk tales and myths, the story is my original work.I hope you like it :)It’s still just a story, like all of my other stores. It doesn’t have a deeper spiritual, moral or ethical meaning.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Silver star

People always think that being born into a wealthy family is a dream come true. It wasn’t like that for Nessa. She was born into a wealthy family in Dublin, one of the oldest Irish families, but she never experienced what other children from normal families experienced. Her parents were distant, cold and away on business trips all the time. They regularly left alone with her nanny on her birthday, they just sent her gifts and called her to wish her a happy birthday. They were never home during Christmas, there were only presents waiting for her under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. 

Nessa was lucky if she saw them two or three times a year and whenever she saw them they were too busy to spend time with her. She envied the other children who spent time with their parents, went to the park with them, got hugs and kisses from them and were loved by their parents. 

Nessa was seven and a half years old when her parents came back to Dublin and stayed home for a few months. This was the first time in Nessa’s life that her parents were home for such a long time. It was spring and the weather was beautiful so Nessa hoped that she’ll be able to go to the park with her mother and play with her, but her parents spent most of her time occupied with other business. They were cold and distant as usual, but something about their behavior seemed off to Nessa, she felt that they were hiding something from her, so one evening she stood by the door of her parent’s room, watching them sit on the bed and listened to their conversation.

“They said that it’s not a problem if she starts school this year.” Her mother said.

Her father was sitting beside her, looking through the window. “Well, it is the best school in the country. And like all of the others, they can’t wait to get a hold of our money, so of course they’ll say that she can start school.”

“This is a greedy world we live in. Isn’t it?” Her mother said.

‘ _Go to school? It’s not enough that I don’t see them at home, now they are sending me away._ ’ Nessa thought and went to her own room. The conversation between her parents kept her up all night thinking about how her parents can be so cruel towards her.

The next morning her parents called Nessa to talk to her. Nessa came down the stairs into the living room and they all sat down. Her father looked at Nessa with a serious look on his face and said. “Nessa, you know that you’re going to be eight years old in the summer. It is time that you start going to school. ”

“Do I have to? Can I just stay here at home with you?” Nessa said.

“Unfortunately no. Your mother and I have a lot of work to do. We went to a school like you and I know you will be a good and brave girl and meet many new people and make many new friends. Niall will drive you to your school where you will live during your studies. We will have to leave for work and will probably miss your first day of school. We will come and visit you when we can, ok?” Her father said.

“Do I have a choice?” Nessa said and her mother stood up, walked over to her and, in a long time, hugged her. 

“Don’t worry. When I was in school, I loved it. I had friends to hang out with, play and have fun with. You will like it to.” Her mother, still hugging her, smiled. Nessa’s father walked towards them, put a hand on her mother’s shoulder and said.

“We both love you and know that you will make us proud, but we have to go.” He said and her parents left. Nessa didn’t know why but tears started to run down her face as she saw them leave.

Summer was ending and it was time for Nessa to start school. There was still no news about her mother. Niall, the family butler, drove her to a boarding school in the country. It was one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country. 

As they arrived, a school representative took her to her room and explained the rules of living in a boarding school. While he recited the rules like a parrot, Nessa felt like this boarding school was more like a prison than a school. They arrived at the room Nessa will be spending her next ten years in. The whole room had one big bed, a desk with a laptop, a big closet and many beautiful decorations all over the room, but it seemed big for just one person.

“Is this room just for me?” Nessa asked.

“Yes. This whole room is just for you. At least that’s the room they told me to take you to. If you need anything, I am in charge of the new students this year. My name is Brian and my room is on the second floor, room number two hundred and seven. I have to go and help the other new students now.” The school representative said and left.

Nessa started unpacking her things, wondering how many students were attending this school and hoping she’ll make friends with someone interesting. There was still a week before the classes started, maybe she could use that time to learn something about this school and meet other students. This school was ancient, this year the school celebrated its six hundredth and twenty-seventh birthday and it was surrounded by a forest more ancient than that. 

As Nessa talked with the older students she found out that some believed that the forest surrounding the school was magical, that they saw creatures like elves, dwarves, Aos Sí the fairy race from old folk tales in the forest. Some even believed that the Bodach, the boogeyman, lived in the forest. Nessa didn’t believe such tales, they were just old folk tales from the past when people didn’t understand the world around them and then made up the stories to explain things. She was a more rational person and didn’t believe in such superstitions. 

The first school year was interesting, it was difficult, but at least here, Nessa made friends with whom she could spend her free time and play. At home, she was always alone with her nanny, but here, here she was surrounded by children her own age eager to make friends, the same as her. Soon enough Nessa started spending most of her time with Riona and by the end of the school year they became best friends. 

At the end of the school year, a lot of students left the school for summer break and went home. Nessa called her father to ask if she can come home to Dublin. Her father said that they were in America working, that there’s nobody at the estate in Dublin and that she should stay at school.

Nessa didn’t know what to do all summer in the school so far away from everything. Riona and the rest of her friends left home for the summer. Again, Nessa will be all alone, she’ll be alone again for her birthday. That part of her life didn’t change. She wondered if it ever would. On Nessa’s birthday Niall, the family butler, brought her a present and spent the day with her. This time her parents didn’t even call her.

With a lot of free time, Nessa went to explore the woods around the school. During one of her walks, she felt someone watching her and noticed a pair of eyes in a dark shadow of a tree. She looked away for a second and when she looked back they were gone, she thought that it was either a fox or a stray dog and gave it no more thought. Another day Nessa stumbled upon a small lake and used the situation to jump in ad cool off a bit from the hot summer day. Swimming in the lake felt so good, she had to share this secret lake with Riona, when she comes back.

It was already becoming dark when Nessa headed back to the school. Suddenly she felt someone watching her again, looked around and again saw a pair of eyes in a dark shadow looking straight at her. Something about the eyes seemed unnatural so she hurried back to school, to her room. ‘ _Maybe the older children were right about the forest._ ‘ Nessa thought.

The next school year started and the Christmas break was the same as the summer break. Nessa stayed at the school and just got presents. It was like her birthday all over again but this time it was too cold to go explore the forest. Nessa just stayed in her room, reading books and watching movies on her laptop.

The few years Nessa spent her whole time in school. Every summer break she didn’t contact her father and threw all of his birthday and Christmas presents in the trash. He, or rather his assistant, still bought her presents for little girls, which she wasn’t anymore. 

It was the same this summer. Nessa was now fourteen years old. The only person she still had contact with was Niall. Nessa liked it when he came and visited her, as he visited her now for her fourteenth birthday. The only thing Nessa didn’t like was that this time Niall tried to convince her that her father wasn’t a cold and harsh man as she thought and that her mother loved her but with so much work they had no time to come and visit her. 

“In six years they couldn’t find the time to time and see me.” Nessa said.

“You know how they are.” Niall said.

“Unfortunately I do.” Nessa said

Niall left the present and went back to Dublin. Nessa didn’t like talking about her father. For her, he was still a cold, distant and ruthless man. The summer night was warm and not caring about the school rules, Nessa went out during the night and sat on stone steps looking towards the forest. Her mind was occupied with thoughts about her mother, father and Niall’s words. Maybe Niall was right, maybe she just didn’t understand her parent’s actions because she was still too young. 

The night sky was full of stars. Nessa was sitting on the stone steps resting her hand and her head on her knee when she felt that strange feeling of being watched again. She looked around and saw a pair of glowing eyes at the edge of the forest. This time she didn’t look away, she kept looking at the eyes to see what will happen. The disappeared and reappeared at the edge of the forest a bit closer to where Nessa was sitting. Nessa still kept looking at the glowing eyes.

After a few moments, the eyes started to move again but this time they started to move forward out of the forest. Nessa saw a black wolf, with silver glowing eyes, the size of a smaller horse come out of the forest. The wolf was walking towards her, stopped a few paces in front of her and sat down looking at her. The wolf tilted his head a bit, looking at her curiously as if he was wondering why she wasn’t running away from him, why she wasn’t afraid of him. 

Nessa was in awe. She couldn’t believe such a marvelous creature could exist. She thought that all the wolfs in Ireland were extinct. The wolf’s fur was black as a moonless night, his silver eyes glowed like stars in the night sky, but as the wolf came closer, she saw grey hairs on his muzzle and ears. As the wolf sat in front of her, she saw a confused look on his face and wondered what he wanted. She reached out her hand towards him, for him to sniff her. Nessa didn’t know anything about wolfs, but she knew that they relied on their sense of smell, like dogs.

The wolf sniffed her arm and made a weird sound. Nessa didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing, but the wolf got up, sat beside her and looked up at the moon in the sky. Nessa did the same, she started to think that this wolf wasn’t an ordinary wolf so she asked him. “Why are we looking at the moon?”

The wolf looked at her with a disapproving look in his eyes, shoved her shoulder, pointed at the moon with his muzzle and waited for Nessa to look at the moon.

“Ok. I guess we are looking at the moon tonight.” Nessa said and looked at the moon.

Nessa and the wolf sat on the stone steps, looking at the moon until the clouds hid the moon. The wolf stood up, started walking towards the forest, looked back at Nessa, made the weird sound again and disappeared into the forest. 

“It was nice to meet you too!” Nessa yelled after the wolf, stood up and went to her room. ‘ _Well, this was an interesting experience, to say the least._ ’ She thought. 

Nessa didn’t tell anyone about that night, not even her best friend Riona, not because she didn’t want to, but because she thought nobody would believe her. During the next school year, she felt the feeling of being watched many times. One time at gym class Nessa and her classmates were running outside the school near the edge of the forest and Nessa suddenly felt the feeling of being watched. She stopped to tie her shoe and looked towards the forests. She saw the silver glowing eyes in a dark shadow of a tree watching her. She started to run again and the wolf jumped from shadow to shadow, watching her, following her. 

Nessa didn’t know why the wolf was watching her, it didn’t seem like he was going to hurt her, it seemed more as if he was judging her. But judging her for what, that part she didn’t know. She found out next summer when she turned fifteen. One warm day during summer break she headed towards the small lake to cool off a bit and saw a wolf pup, playing with a twig, in the middle of the forest path. Nessa looked around, searching for the silver glowing eyes, but couldn’t find them. The pup had black fur and silver eyes, the same as the big black wolf, but he had a silver star on his forehead.

Somehow, Nessa knew that the black wolf was responsible for her finding the pup here in the forest, but it was against school rules to have pets, she didn’t know what to do. One thing is to sneak out of the room or break some small school rule, but having a pet that needed food and needed to go outside without anyone seeing him, was a whole other level of breaking school rules. Nessa crouched beside the pup, looked at his ad as he looked back at her she could see intelligence in those silver eyes looking at her. 

‘ _No, I can’t do this. I could get kicked out of school for this. But he’s so cute. That silver star is so adorable._ ’ Nessa was torn, she didn’t know what to do. She felt a warm breath on her neck and someone shoved her shoulder. She turned around and so the black wolf.

“I knew it was you. This is your doing, isn’t it?” Nessa said.

The black wolf gave her a serious look, made that weird sound again and shoved her shoulder again.

“Ok. Ok. I get it. You want me to take care of him. Do I have a choice?” Nessa asked.

The wolf, still standing behind her with a serious look on his face, just made a weird sound.

“So no. Ok, I don’t have a choice.” Nessa said and picked up the pup.

“Let’s see, what I will call you. I know, there’s an old Irish name for silver and beauty you little rascal. I’ll call you Eirian.” Nessa said.

The black wolf let out a low howl as if he approved of the name and disappeared into the forest.

“You are just like my dad, you know that!” Nessa yelled after the black wolf. She turned her attention to the pup and said. “My dad also left me like that, but I didn’t stink so much as you do. We are going to the lake and I will give you a bath so you don’t stink up my whole room.”

The bath at the lake didn’t go as smooth as Nessa hoped. The pup had so much energy that she barely kept up with him and had to rescue him from drowning a few times. Tired and wet she wrapped Eirian in a towel and smuggled him into her room. At dinnertime, Nessa took a big portion of food and took half of it to her room to give it to Eirian. Having food in your room was also against the school rules, she was in luck that it was summer and that most of the teachers and students weren’t at school. Nessa had to think of a way to take care of Eirian without anyone noticing him.

When the school year started, Nessa already had a practiced routine for taking care of Eirian. There was something strange about Eirian. In two months that she took care of him, he didn’t grow at all, he was still a pup. In the wild animals usually grow up really fast so that they can start hunting for food and defend themselves as fast as they can, but Eirian wasn’t growing like the animals in the wild. It was convenient because moving him around the school and taking him out was easier, but Nessa was still worried. 

The whole school year she spent going to classes and taking care of Eirian. Eirian had so much energy, slept on her bed as if it was his and an unimaginable urge to howl at the moon. The amount of energy and howling at the moon were a problem for Nessa because Eirian chewed up everything he could get his paws on and when she told him to stop it she could see in his eyes that he understood what she meant and didn’t care. It was the same story with the moon.

One day, by accident, Nessa found out Eirian’s weakness. Eirian was chewing one of his toys, ripping out the cotton stuffing out of it, when one of her caramel candy fell to the floor. Eirian immediately jumped at it and ate it. After he finished it, he lay on his back, wagging his tail, with a begging look on his face. From that day on Nessa trained Eirian with caramel candies. 

The summer Nessa turned sixteen Eirian grew a little. He now reached to her knees and finally stopped chewing her things. The only thing she couldn’t stop him from doing was howling at the moon. They both spent the summer in the forest and Nessa could, from time to time, feel that they were being watched. She couldn’t see the silver glowing eyes, but she somehow knew that the black wolf was somewhere in the forest watching them. Eirian’s favorite place to play was the lake. He loved to swim, catch sticks that Nessa threw into the lake and catch fish. Nessa never felt so happy in her life, but the summer was over quickly and a new school year started.

This summer Nessa’s mobile phone rang. Nessa thought that her father wanted something from her, but she was surprised when she saw that it was Niall calling her, not her father. Nessa answered the phone and Niall said that he will be picking her up tomorrow, that her parents died in a plane crash. The next day Niall came to pick Nessa up, she hid Eirian in one of her suitcases, living it half open so he could breathe, and they left for Dublin.

At the estate, Nessa hid Eirian in her room and told him to be quiet. Nessa talked to Niall to find out what exactly happened and he told her that her parent’s private jet crashed over the Atlantic ocean. Nessa asked him to help her plan the funeral and to coordinate the staff at the estate to do the same. Niall told her not to worry and Nessa went back to her room. When she got back to her room she sat on her bed staring blankly at the door, she couldn’t cry and she didn’t know why. Eirian, sensing that something was wrong, jumped up on the bed and put his muzzle on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, Eirian. Now I have no family except you.” Nessa said, after some time went down to the kitchen, got food and caramel candy for Eirian and when he finished eating, she took him out for a walk.

Niall helped her organize the funeral and after the funeral, Niall took her to see the family lawyer. The lawyer told Nessa that the scholarship for her boarding school was paid in full but that she as a minor cannot inherit the family estate, money and business. Her father arranged that she gets a monthly allowance and that the family business and estate is taken care of until she turns eighteen. With nothing holding her in Dublin Nessa went back to school with Eirian. 

“In a year and a half, I will leave school, leave my friends behind and be alone again.” Nessa said aloud, as she lay on the bed. Eirian made an angry bark-like sound and Nessa looked at him. “Ok. I won’t be alone, I have you now.” Eirian, happy with what she said, jumped on the bed and started licking her face and gently biting her. “Stop it! That I said not the face! Newer the face!” Nessa said laughing.

The year and a half flew by quickly and in that time, Eirian grew so much that he now reached all the way to Nessa’s hips. Nessa finished school and went back to Dublin. Now that she was eighteen she inherited everything from her parents, but she didn’t know where to start. Nessa didn’t know what she’ll do with the rest of her life, all she knew was that she didn’t want to be like her parents. Everyone at the estate in Dublin looked confused at Eirian, but Nessa just ignored them. 

At the estate, she looked more closely at what she inherited from her parents. Nessa inherited the estate, which was worth a few million euros, the family business, which were shares in the companies, the family made several million euros each year owning the shares, and the family money with so many commas. So, she could do whatever she wanted.

“Eirian, you don’t know how lucky you are. You just eat, sleep, walk and play. You don’t have to deal whit being someone important or doing something important.” Nessa said.

“Yes I do.” Eirian said and Nessa slowly turned her head towards him with a petrified look on her face.

“Did you just speak or am I crazy?” Nessa said.

“I did speak. And I think all humans are crazy.” Eirian said and Nessa fainted.

Nessa woke up to Eirian licking her face. “What are you doing? I said not the face.” She said.

“I tried biting you and licking your arms but you wouldn’t wake up.” Eirian said wagging his tail, looking at Nessa with, what seemed a smile on his face.

“So you can really talk? How?” Nessa asked.

“When we, the Mac Tíre, turn two years old we can start to talk the human language, not just understand it.” Eirian said.

“So your father, the big black wolf, could have just spoken to me and said that he will give you to me? Why didn’t he?” Nessa asked.

“Judging by your reaction now when I talked I think you know why.” Eirian said with a touch of sarcasm.

“Good point.” Nessa said, still not believing that she was talking to a wolf. “But if you are not a wolf, if you are a… What did you say?”

“A Mac Tíre! But my father Aster prefers the name Luchthonn of Ossory.” Eirian said and his eyes glowed a bit.

“Ossory? If I’m not mistaken that’s an old medieval kingdom here, in Ireland. As old as my family name Limerick, the name as one of the biggest towns in the kingdom of Munster in medieval Ireland.” Nessa said. “We have family portraits at home, dating back six hundred years.”

“Then your family probably knew my ancestors. This is so exciting.” Eirian said happily.

“But I thought wolfs were extinct here in Ireland. So, how come you and your family are alive?” Nessa asked.

“Well, we are technically not just wolves. We are Luchthonn of Ossory. Humans cursed to be wolves for seven years and then humans for seven years. That repeats until we die and we live a long time, longer than normal humans do. My father Aster is a hundred and twenty years old.” Eirian explained.

“So why didn’t you stay with your family? Why did he leave you with me?” Nessa asked.

“So I can learn to be human. In five years I’ll turn into a full-grown human and my father can’t teach me to be human as another human can.” Eirian said.

“So in five years, you will leave me to.” Nessa said with a sad look on her face. Everyone in her life just left, leaving her alone.

“I don’t have to if you don’t want me to.” Eirian said, put his muzzle on her lap and looked at her with a comforting look in his eyes.

“No, I’ll just hold you back. You deserve to explore the world and run free as a wolf through it.” Tears started forming in the corners of Nessa’s eyes. She didn’t know why, she thought that after all this time she got used to being alone.

“There is a way.” Eirian said. “But if I do that there is no way back.”

“If you do what?” Nessa asked.

“Make you a part of my family.” Eirian said. “That way you will never again be alone.”

“You mean it?” Nessa said and looked at Eirian.

“Yes. Give me your hand. This is going to hurt a bit.” Eirian bit Nessa’s hand until blood started to flow, he bit his tongue and mixed his blood with hers. Nessa felt a surge of energy flow through her and felt her body start to change. Nessa felt down to the floor, feeling pain rush through her whole body as changed and lay there for a while. She tried to stand up but she couldn’t stand on her legs, she fell forward.

“You have four legs now. You can’t stand up as a human anymore.” Eirian said.

“What?!” Nessa asked with panic in her voice. “You could have at least warned me that I’ll change into a wolf immediately.” She looked angrily at Eirian and tried to stand up on all fours, like a dog. Eirian quietly howled.

“Stop that!” Nessa said.

“I can’t. You have a crescent moon on your forehead. I love howling at the moon.” Eirian said.

Nessa walked over to the mirror. She was a bit smaller than Eirian, her fur was silver and she had a black crescent moon on her forehead. 

“As you said, now you don’t have to deal whit being someone important or doing something important. You can just enjoy life so let’s go explore.” Eirian said.

Nessa nodded, they snuck out of the house into the darkness of the night and left the city behind them.

“Now I don’t know at which moon to how at.” Eirian said with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is different than all of my other stories. There is no death or violence in it just loneliness and a happy end. That's not typical for me, but I have been working from home for the past couple of days so I probably used this story to express my loneliness.
> 
> Irish mythology is full of other myths and folk tales and if I write another story inspired by them I'll make it more about the myth and less about the feelings of the main character.
> 
> Thanks for reading :)  
> Every comment is welcome


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